Andrea Jones and Tamara Nesmith scored 14 points apiece as Mount Olive defeated previously unbeaten The Apprentice School 71-47 in non-conference women's basketball Friday at Kornegay Arena. The Trojans built a double-digit lead midway through the first half and the margin stayed in double figures the remainder of the game.

Mount Olive (6-3) led by as many as 18 points in the first half and held a 16-point halftime lead, but a three-minute scoreless drought to start the second half allowed Apprentice (10-1) to pull within 11 after Jasmine Pringle's three-pointer. But that was as close as the Builders would get.

Alyssa Luebs' putback on her own miss led to a three-point play and gave the Trojans a 50-35 lead with 12:31 left in the contest. After an Apprentice basket, Nesmith hit a short jumper and Destinee Webb followed with her second length-of-the court layup off a steal as Mount Olive broke the game open. Kirksten Mitchell hit her second three-pointer of the night and Jasmine McDonald's three-point play with 7:19 remaining capped a 14-2 run and gave the Trojans their biggest lead of the game at 64-39. The lead stayed above 20 the rest of the way.

In the first half, it was Mount Olive holding Apprentice scoreless for the first three minutes until Pringle put the Builders on the scoreboard with a three-pointer. Apprentice led by as many as three before Joneiqua Gary, Jones and Mitchell connected on three-pointers in a three-minute span to ignite a 17-3 run and give Mount Olive its first double-digit lead at 25-14 with 7:48 left in the first half.

Apprentice cut the margin back to single figures, but Jones hit a three-pointer for Mount Olive and Webb finished a steal on the Builders' next possession with an uncontested layup to trigger an 8-0 run and extend the lead to 33-17 with 6:05 remaining. The margin never fell below 14 the remainder of the half and Nesmith's basket with 22 seconds left gave the Trojans a 39-23 lead at intermission.

Jasmine McDonald finished with 12 points for Mount Olive, while Mitchell added eight points. McDonald, Nesmith and Webb dished out four assists apiece. Nesmith shared game-high honors with eight rebounds, while Luebs pulled down seven boards.

Courtney Collins led a balanced Apprentice attack with 10 points, while Tamara Davis and Danita Whitaker both narrowly missed double-doubles with nine points and eight rebounds apiece. Christina Licano finished with four assists.

Mount Olive opens Conference Carolinas play Tuesday as the Trojans play host to Coker as part of a women's and men's basketball doubleheader at Kornegay Arena. The women's game tips off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30.